System and method for propagating a media item recommendation message comprising recommender presence information

ABSTRACT

A system and method for propagating media item recommendation messages on a media item recommendation system is disclosed. A first media item recommendation message comprising a media item identifier and presence information of a recommender is received from the recommender. The first media item recommendation message is sent to a first recipient. A second media item recommendation message comprising the presence information of the recommender adapted by the first recipient is received from the first recipient. The second media item recommendation message is then sent or forwarded to a second recipient. The first recipient may adapt the presence information by including the presence information of the recommender unmodified, by including the presence information of the recommender modified by the first recipient, and/or by including the presence information of the first recipient with or without the presence information of the recommender.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to commonly assigned U.S. patentapplications Ser. No. ______, filed Jun. 1, 2007, entitled “SYSTEM ANDMETHOD OF GENERATING A MEDIA ITEM RECOMMENDATION MESSAGE WITHRECOMMENDER PRESENCE INFORMATION”; Ser. No. ______, filed Jun. 1, 2007,entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING A RECEIVED MEDIA ITEMRECOMMENDATION MESSAGE COMPRISING RECOMMENDER PRESENCE INFORMATION”; andSer. No. ______, filed Jun. 1, 2007, entitled “ENHANCED MEDIA ITEMPLAYLIST COMPRISING PRESENCE INFORMATION,” which are hereby incorporatedherein in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and method for propagatingmedia item recommendation messages on a media item recommendationsystem. A recipient of a media item recommendation message can propagatethe media item recommendation message to other recipients and includeexisting and/or new presence information in the media itemrecommendation message.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In recent years, there has been an enormous increase in the amount ofdigital media available online. Services, such as Apple's iTunes® forexample, enable users to legally purchase and download music. Otherservices, such as Yahoo!® Music Unlimited and RealNetwork's Rhapsody®,provide access to millions of songs for a monthly subscription fee.YouTube® provides users access to video media. As a result, media itemshave become much more accessible to consumers worldwide. Due to thelarge amount of the accessible digital media, recommendationtechnologies are emerging as an important enabler to assist users inidentifying and navigating large databases of available media.Recommendations are useful to help users identify and select media itemsof interest for usage and/or play.

Recommendations may be programmatically-generated by a company based onthe user's predefined preferences and/or profiles. Recommendations alsomay be provided by other users. Particularly, the users may be peers ona social network. The social network provides for the exchange of mediaitem recommendations among the users. As such, the user on the socialnetwork may be both a recommender user of media items to other users anda recipient user of media item recommendations from other users. In thismanner, the user may receive a media item recommendation from anotheruser and transmit a media item recommendation to other users.

Typically, the users on the social network have some type ofrelationship. For example, the users may be friends, acquaintances, ormembers of a defined group or community. Because of these relationships,the users may have similar traits, profiles, likes and dislikes, and/ormedia item preferences. Therefore, the social networks provide anopportunity to develop and strengthen the interaction between the usersnot only with respect to the media items, but also with respect to theusers personally. The development and strengthening of the userinteraction promotes the continued use of the social network for mediaitem recommendations and the acquisition and playing of the media itemsrecommended.

The ability of the user on the social network to be both the recommenderof media items and recipient of media item recommendations provides anopportunity to further develop and strengthen user interaction on thesocial network. This could be better accomplished if the media itemrecommendation could be propagated among the users on the socialnetwork. Propagation of media item recommendations means that, insteadof the recipient user just receiving the media item recommendation, therecipient, and each subsequent recipient, would be able to furthertransmit, or retransmit, the media item recommendation. In this way, themedia item recommendation would be progressively transmitted among theusers on the social network thus providing ancestry-like information tonew recipients.

Additionally, propagating the media item recommendation would allowadditional information to be included in the media item recommendationwith the transmission, and with subsequent retransmissions of the mediaitem recommendation. The additional information may be that of therecommender and/or the recipient, and may provide personal informationof the recommender, recipient and/or information about the media item orthe artist. As a result, incorporating additional information into themedia item recommendation would increase the enjoyment, educationaleffect, and entertainment value of the media item recommendation itself.

Therefore, because of the above, being able to propagate the media itemrecommendation would result in continued communication between theusers, thereby promoting and enhancing the personal interaction amongthe users and the interest in the media item being recommended.

However, current media item recommendation applications do not providefor the propagation of media item recommendations. The current mediaitem recommendation applications allow the recommender to send a mediaitem recommendation to the recipient. While the recipient user may sendhis or her own recommendation of the media item, the current media itemapplications do not allow for the retransmission or progressivetransmission of the media item recommendation including presenceinformation of the recommender and/or the recipient.

Accordingly, a need exists for a media item recommendation system andmethod that provides and propagates a media item recommendation messagethat includes presence information of a recommender and/or therecipient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a system and method for propagating media itemrecommendation messages on a media item recommendation system. A firstmedia item recommendation message comprising a media item identifier andpresence information of a recommender is received from the recommender.The media item recommendation message is sent to a first recipient. Asecond media item recommendation message comprising the presenceinformation of the recommender adapted by the first recipient isreceived from the first recipient. The second media item recommendationmessage is then sent or forwarded to a second recipient. The firstrecipient may adapt the presence information by including the presenceinformation of the recommender unmodified, by including the presenceinformation of the recommender modified by the first recipient, and/orby including the presence information of the first recipient with orwithout the presence information of the recommender. In this way, themedia item recommendation may be progressively transmitted among theusers on a media item recommendation system and include the presenceinformation and/or the media item annotation of the recommender and therecipient.

The presence information may be simply a recommender's identifier.Optionally, the presence information may be a unique, novel, and/orcreative tag presentation. The tag presentation may be in audio, visualand/or textual format, which signifies and associates with the user. Themedia item recommendation message also may include a media itemannotation. The media item annotation may be any additional informationwhich the recommender desires to include in the media itemrecommendation message. The media item annotation may be personalmessages and/or may be media item-related. The media item annotation maybe in audio, visual, and/or textual format, and may be, for example, apersonal message or picture, a critical review of the media item, and/oran image of the artist.

The presence information and/or the media item annotation may be in theform of metadata. The recipient, via his or her user device, may renderthe presence information and/or the media item annotation when the mediaitem is rendered, and/or store or download the presence informationand/or the media item annotation to a media item playlist, to anotherdevice, or to a storage medium for subsequent rendering with the mediaitem.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate the scope of the presentinvention and realize additional aspects thereof after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiments inassociation with the accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part ofthis specification illustrate several aspects of the invention, andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a user-server media item recommendation system,wherein media item recommendation messages including a recommender'spresence information are transmitted to a central/proxy server andpropagated on among recipients;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the process of a user forregistering with a media item recommendation client application andattaching presence information to a log-in instruction to the media itemrecommendation system according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary mediaitem recommendation message according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is the media item recommendation message in which an exemplarymedia item identifier, presence information, and media item annotationare illustrated.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the process for providing andtransmitting the media item recommendation message when a media itemrecommendation is made, wherein the media item recommendation messagecomprises a media item identifier, a recommender's presence information,and a media item annotation according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary mediaitem playlist including the presence information and the media itemannotation as a result of a received media item recommendation messageaccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the process for receiving the mediaitem recommendation message, wherein a media item, the recommender'spresence information, and/or the media item annotation are renderedand/or stored according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary useraccount in a central/proxy server according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplaryrecommendation database in the central/proxy server according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the process for the central/proxyserver to receive the log in instructions and the media itemrecommendation from a recommender, and transmit a log-in notice and themedia item recommendation message to a recipient according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is the user-server system of FIG. 1 further illustrating in moredetail the transmission of the presence information and the propagationof the media item recommendation message among the user devices of themedia item recommendation system according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C illustrate exemplary communication flow diagramsbetween the central/proxy server and the user devices, wherein the mediaitem recommendation message is propagated among the user devices of themedia item recommendation system according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 13 is the media item recommendation message of FIG. 4 withadditional detail illustrating an exemplary media item identifier,presence information of two recommenders, and a media item annotation.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary graphical user interface (GUI) forproviding presence information preferences according to one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary GUI for providing the media itemannotation information according to one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating more detail regarding thecomponents of the presence information according to one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary mediaitem player according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary communication flow diagram between thecentral/proxy server and the user devices, wherein metadata of acurrently playing media item on the recipient user device is compared tometadata of announcement tracks included in the recommender presenceinformation to determine a best fit announcement track according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating more detail regarding componentson the central/proxy server of FIGS. 1 and 10 according to oneembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating more detail regarding componentson the user device of FIGS. 1 and 10 according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information toenable those skilled in the art to practice the invention and illustratethe best mode of practicing the invention. Upon reading the followingdescription in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilledin the art will understand the concepts of the invention and willrecognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressedherein. It should be understood that these concepts and applicationsfall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.

The present application is related to commonly assigned U.S. patentapplications Ser. No. ______, filed Jun. 1, 2007, entitled “SYSTEM ANDMETHOD OF GENERATING A MEDIA ITEM RECOMMENDATION MESSAGE WITHRECOMMENDER PRESENCE INFORMATION”; Ser. No. ______, filed Jun. 1, 2007,entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING A RECEIVED MEDIA ITEMRECOMMENDATION MESSAGE COMPRISING RECOMMENDER PRESENCE INFORMATION”; andSer. No. ______, filed Jun. 1, 2007, entitled “ENHANCED MEDIA ITEMPLAYLIST COMPRISING PRESENCE INFORMATION,” which are hereby incorporatedherein in their entirety.

The present invention is a system and method for propagating media itemrecommendation messages on a media item recommendation system. A firstmedia item recommendation message comprising a media item identifier andpresence information of a recommender is received from the recommender.The first media item recommendation message is sent to a firstrecipient. A second media item recommendation message comprising thepresence information of the recommender adapted by the first recipientis received from the first recipient. The second media itemrecommendation message is then sent or forwarded to a second recipient.The first recipient may adapt the presence information by including thepresence information of the recommender unmodified, by including thepresence information of the recommender modified by the first recipient,and/or by including the presence information of the first recipient withor without the presence information of the recommender. In this way, themedia item recommendation may be progressively transmitted among theusers on a media item recommendation system and include the presenceinformation and/or the media item annotation of the recommender and therecipient.

The presence information may be simply a recommender's identifier.Optionally, the presence information may be a unique, novel, and/orcreative tag presentation. The tag presentation may be in audio, visualand/or textual format, which signifies and associates with the user. Themedia item recommendation message also may include a media itemannotation. The media item annotation may be any additional informationwhich the recommender desires to include in the media itemrecommendation message. The media item annotation may be personalmessages and/or may be media item-related. The media item annotation maybe in audio, visual, and/or textual format, and may be, for example, apersonal message or picture, a critical review of the media item, and/oran image of the artist.

The presence information and/or the media item annotation may be in theform of metadata. The recipient, via his or her user device, may renderthe presence information and/or the media item annotation when the mediaitem is rendered, and/or store or download the presence informationand/or the media item annotation to a media item playlist, to anotherdevice, or to a storage medium for subsequent rendering with the mediaitem.

The user on the media item recommendation system may be the recommenderand/or the recipient. For purposes of the present invention, whendescribing a user that is transmitting a media item recommendationmessage, the term “recommender” will be used, and when describing a userthat is receiving a media item recommendation message, the term“recipient” will be used. Additionally, when the terms “transmit” and“send,” and variations thereof, are used herein, it should be understoodthat those terms refer to the same action and, therefore, have the samemeaning.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary media item recommendation system 10 forproviding and propagating media item recommendation messages. Beforediscussing how the media item recommendation system 10 provides andpropagates media item recommendation messages incorporating presenceinformation that are received and processed, a brief overview of themedia item recommendation system 10 follows first. In this example, themedia item recommendation system 10 has a central/proxy server 12 thatmanages the flow of information and services provided to users of themedia item recommendation system 10. The central/proxy server 12 may becomprised of a database of user accounts 14 and a recommendationdatabase 16. The user accounts 14 contains a record of accounts for eachuser known to the central/proxy server 12 and information concerningaspects of the user's activities on the media item recommendation system10. The information in the user accounts 14 may include user profiles,preferences, play histories, and other information about the user andthe user's media collections. The recommendation database 16 stores arecord of the media item recommendation messages that are provided onthe media item recommendation system 10. The central/proxy server 12 isalso able to communicate with other devices and systems over a network18. The network 18 may be any private network or distributed publicnetwork such as, but not limited to, the Internet.

In this example, the central/proxy server 12 operates in a user-serverrelationship with users. However, it should be noted that the presentinvention may be implemented in a peer-to-peer configuration wherefeatures of the central/proxy server 12 are provided by a “super” peerdevice. The central/proxy server 12, in whatever form provided, providesmedia-based services to the user. Note that the central/proxy server 12also may be implemented as a number of servers operating in acollaborative fashion. An example of a media item recommendation systemthat may be implemented in a user-server or peer-to-peer configurationis described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/484,130,entitled “P2P NETWORK FOR PROVIDING REAL TIME MEDIA RECOMMENDATIONS,”filed Jul. 11, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

The media item recommendation system 10 also includes a number of userdevices 20A-20N which may communicate with the central/proxy server 12and each other via the network 18. Also note that while three userdevices 20A, 20B, 20N are illustrated, the present invention may be usedwith any number of two or more user devices 20. The user devices 20 maybe any type of computing device that is capable of performingcommunications over the network 18 to reach the central/proxy server 12and other user devices 20. Each of the user devices 20 may also includea user interface which may include components such as a display,speakers, a user input device, and the like. Examples of user devices 20include, but are not limited to, home computers; computers at work;laptop computers; wireless portable media player (PMP) devices;hand-held computer devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDA)with remote communication capabilities; and the like.

Each user who desires to access and receive the services of thecentral/proxy server 12 first establishes a user account 14 with thecentral/proxy server 12. This allows the user device 20 to receive anddownload a media item recommendation client application 22, whichprovides a customized software interface to the central/proxy server 12.After the media item recommendation client application 22 is downloadedonto a user device 20, the media item recommendation client application22 executes on the user device 20.

The user device 20 may also contain a recommendation engine 24. Therecommendation engine 24 is a program, algorithm, or control mechanismthat handles sending and/or receiving media item recommendation messagesover the network 18. The recommendation engine 24 may also score mediaitems based on user preferences for the different media categories, forexample, user, genre, artist, title, album, lyrics, date of release, orthe like, and then filter recommendations from the other user devices 20based on such preferences.

The user device 20 also typically contains a media item playlist 26 anda media item player 28. The media item playlist 26 may includeinformation concerning media items and/or media item recommendationmessages, including, for example, the titles of media items and/or themedia item recommendation messages, the artists, the score, and otherinformation concerning the media items. The media item player 28 allowsthe user to use or play back any media item desired. Examples of mediaitem players 28 include but are not limited to Apple® iTunes®, Apple®iPOD®, and the like. The media items selected for use and/or playinclude those stored locally at the user device 20 in a user's mediaitem collection 30, and/or any media item accessed from thecentral/proxy server 12, another user device 20, subscription service(s)32, and/or any other system accessible by or coupled to the network 18.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, presenceinformation 34 may be provided by the user to the media itemrecommendation system 10. Initially, the user, using the user device 20,develops and provides the presence information 34. The presenceinformation 34 may be any personal, unique, novel, and/or creative tagpresentation, or other identifying information of the user. The userdevice 20 stores the presence information 34 and transmits the presenceinformation 34 to the central/proxy server 12 whenever the user device20 logs in to the media item recommendation system 10 by attaching thepresence information 34 to the log in instruction. The central/proxyserver 12 receives the presence information 34, and transmits thepresence information 34 to other user devices 20 that are also logged into the media item recommendation system 10. Additionally, thecentral/proxy server 12 may store the presence information 34 in theuser account 14.

FIG. 1 shows the presence information 34A being transmitted from theuser device 20A to the central/proxy server 12 and to the user devices20B and 20N. Alternatively, the log in instruction with the presenceinformation 34A may be transmitted directly from the user device 20A tothe user devices 20B and 20N. Although for purposes of ease ofexplanation of the present invention, FIG. 1 shows the presenceinformation 34A being transmitted from the user device 20A and receivedby the user devices 20B and 20N, it is understood that the user devices20B, 20N similarly may transmit the presence information 34B, 34N,respectively, and user device 20A may receive the presence information34B, 34N.

The user device 20, and in particular the recommendation engine 24,generates a media item recommendation message 36 and transmits the mediaitem recommendation message 36 to the central/proxy server 12. The mediaitem recommendation message 36 includes a media item identifier 38 (FIG.3), the presence information 34, and, optionally, a media itemannotation 40 (FIG. 3). The central/proxy server 12 records the mediaitem recommendation message 36 in the recommendation database 16. Thecentral/proxy server 12 transmits the media item recommendation message36 to the other user devices 20. Alternatively, the media itemrecommendation message 36 may be transmitted directly to the other userdevices 20.

The user device 20 can be both a recommender of the media itemrecommendation message 36 and a recipient of the media itemrecommendation message 36. In other words, a user device 20 may act as arecommender by generating and transmitting a media item recommendationmessage 36, and a recipient by receiving a media item recommendationmessage 36 generated by the recommender.

Although for purposes of ease of explanation of the present invention,FIG. 1 shows the user device 20A as the recommender transmitting themedia item recommendation message 36A, and the user devices 20B, 20N arethe recipients of media item recommendation message 36A, the userdevices 20B, 20N may also be recommenders and transmit the media itemrecommendation messages 36B, 36N, respectively.

FIG. 2 illustrates a process for the user device 20 to register with themedia item recommendation client application 22 via the central/proxyserver 12 and to log in to the media item recommendation system 10. Thisallows a user to access and to begin executing the media itemrecommendation client application 22. The process begins with the userdevice 20 registering with the central/proxy server 12 (step 200). Theuser device 20 may send profile and/or additional information with theregistration. The user device 20 then receives the media itemrecommendation client application 22 from the central/proxy server 12and downloads the media item recommendation client application 22 (step202). Using the user device 20, the user develops presence information34 which may be recorded in the user device 20 (step 204).

When the user desires to log in to the media item recommendation system10, the user device 20 attaches the presence information 34 recorded bythe user device 20 to a log in instruction (step 206). The user device20 logs in to the media item recommendation system 10 by sending the login instruction with the presence information 34 to the central/proxyserver 12 (step 208). Alternatively, the user device 20 may send the login instruction directly to the other user devices 20 on the media itemrecommendation system 10. The user device 20 may also receive thepresence information 34 of other user devices 20 logged in to the mediaitem recommendation system 10 (step 210). The user device 20 receivesthe presence information 34 of the other user devices 20 as part of alog-in notice transmitted from the central/proxy server 12 or directlyfrom the other user devices 20.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the components of the media item (1)recommendation message 36A generated and transmitted by the user device20A according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3provides a description of the structure of the media item recommendationmessage 36 which may be propagated on the media item recommendationsystem 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Themedia item (1) recommendation message 36A includes the media item (1)identifier 38, which is used by the media item recommendation system 10to identify the specific media item being recommended. For purposes ofdiscussing the present invention, the media item identifier 38 is shownin FIG. 3 as “(1)” but may be any type or form of unique identifier. Forexample, the media item (1) identifier 38 may utilize an alphanumericformat or progression comprising and/or referring to a known fingerprintand/or Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) of the media item.

The media item (1) recommendation message 36A includes the presenceinformation 34A and a media item (1) annotation 40A. As discussed above,the presence information 34A may be any personal, unique, novel, and/orcreative tag presentation or other information the recommender desiresto include with the media item recommendation message and may comprisean audio component 42A, an image component 44A, and a text component46A. The audio component 42A may be any type of audio content, or audiotag line, whether originally developed by the recommender and providedto the user device 20A or imported by the recommender into the userdevice 20A from the media item recommendation system 10 or an externalsource. The image component 44A may be any still or graphic image, forexample, a picture of the recommender. The text component 46A may be anytextual message, or text tag line that the recommender desires toinclude in the media item (1) recommendation message 36A. Therecommender for example, may provide personal information as to his orher preferences or profile as the text component 46A. The above examplesof the presence information 34A should in no manner be understood aslimiting the particular type of message and/or content of the presenceinformation 34.

Similarly, the media item annotation 40A may comprise an audio component48A, an image component 50A, and/or a text component 52A. The media itemannotation 40A may contain the same type of information as the presenceinformation 34A and may be directed more towards other personalinformation or content, the media item, and/or the artist. For example,the audio component 48A may be a summary portion of the recommender'sfavorite song and/or the media item being recommended; the imagecomponent 50A may be a picture of the recipient, friends, the artist oran album cover and/or CD jewel case insert; and the text component 52Amay be a personal message, album liner notes, inserts from a CD jewelcase, published reviews or other commentaries pertaining to the mediaitem, the artist and/or other similar media items or works of theartist. The above examples of media item annotations 40A should in nomanner be understood as limiting the particular type of message and/orcontent of the media item annotation 40.

The media item (1) recommendation message 36A also may be implemented inExtensible Markup Language (XML). The presence information 34A and themedia item annotation 40A may be in metadata form. The metadata may beembedded in the XML message as data payload or, alternatively, may bepointed to by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Additionally, the URLmay be in the form of a hyperlink to the central/proxy server 12, forexample.

FIG. 4 shows the media item recommendation message 36 in which the mediaitem identifier 38, the presence information 34, and the media itemannotation 40 are illustrated with exemplary information. FIG. 4 isprovided to show an example of the type of information which may beincluded in the media item recommendation message 36. The media itemidentifier 38 shows the artist of the recommended media item, “AvrilLavigne,” and the title of the media item, “Girlfriend.” As discussedabove, the media item identifier 38 may be any type of unique identifierto identify the media item.

The presence information 34 includes the audio component 42 in the formof a summary or snippet of the song “Bust A Move.” A picture of therecommender is incorporated in the presence information 34 as the imagecomponent 44. A quote provided by the recommender is incorporated as thetext component 46 of the presence information 34. FIG. 4 shows how therecommender may include presence information 34 in audio, image, andtextual format to provide unique, novel, and distinctive identificationtags of the recommender.

The media item annotation 40 incorporates a voice recording of therecommender as the audio component 48. The voice recording provides anintroductory salutation to the recipient and to introduce the imagecomponent 50. A picture of the recipient with her friends taken at anevent is incorporated as the image component 50. The text component 52provides a textual description of the image component 50. FIG. 4 showshow the recommender may include the media item annotation 40 in audio,image, and textual format to convey an additional personal message tothe recipient. As such, the media item annotation 40 may be anyadditional information or message.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the process for generating andtransmitting the media item recommendation message 36 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. This allows a description as to howthe user device 20 automatically generates and transmits a media itemrecommendation message 36 for a media item after the user device 20plays the media item. The user utilizing user device 20 selects a mediaitem to play from the media item playlist 26, the media item collection30, the subscription service(s) 32 and/or another external source (step300). The user device 20 plays the media item selected (step 302) andthe user, utilizing the user device 20, may then record the media itemannotation 40 (step 304). As discussed above, the media item annotation40 may comprise the audio component 48, the image component 50 and/orthe text component 52. Additionally, the media item annotation 40 may beoriginal content developed by the user or may be content the userimports into the media item recommendation message 36 utilizing the userdevice 20, or a combination of both original and imported content.

The media item recommendation client application 22 may cause the userdevice 20 to automatically generate the media item recommendationmessage 36 when certain actions occur (step 306). One such action may bethe playing of the media item on the user device 20. In such a case, theuser device 20 generates the media item recommendation message 36 byincluding the media item identifier 38 and incorporating the presenceinformation 34. Optionally, the user device 20 may also include themedia item annotation 40 such that the media item recommendation message36 comprises the media item identifier 38, the presence information 34of the recommender, and the media item annotation 40, if developed andincluded by the recommender. The presence information 34 and,optionally, the media item annotation 40 are included in the media itemrecommendation message 36 in association with the media item identifier38. In other words, the media item recommendation message 36 provides astructure for associating the presence information 34 and the media itemannotation 40 with the media item identifier 38. In this manner, thepresence information 34 and/or the media item annotation 40 arerenderable and storable, individually, and/or in association with themedia item identifier 38, and, therefore, the media item. The userdevice 20 then transmits the media item recommendation message 36addressed to the recipients by sending the media item recommendationmessage 36 to the central/proxy server 12 or directly to the userdevices 20 of the recipients of the media item recommendation message 36(step 308). Although not shown in FIG. 5, the present invention allowsthe user to select the media item, for example from the media itemplaylist 26, record a new and/or include existing presence information34 and/or media item annotation 40 as the user desires, and transmit amedia item recommendation message 36 without having to play the mediaitem.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the components of an exemplarymedia item playlist 26 according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 6 provides a reference for the discussion of the mannerin which the media item identifier 38 and the presence information 34and media item annotation 40 are stored on a media item playlist 26. Themedia item playlist 26 may store the media item identifier 38 for eachmedia item recommendation message 36 and/or for each media item in themedia item collection 30. Also, the media item may be stored on themedia item playlist 26. Additionally, the media item playlist 26 maystore the recommender's presence information 34 and media itemannotation 40 for each of the media item recommendation messages 36received by the user device 20.

The recommender's presence information 34, the media item annotation 40,and the media item may be organized on the media item playlist 26 insuch a manner that the presence information 34, the media itemannotation 40, and/or the media item are associated with the media itemidentifier 38. As such, the media item playlist 26 provides an“enhanced” playlist. The user may select when and how to render themedia item, the presence information 34, and the media itemrecommendation 40. The user may render, and, therefore, play the mediaitem, display the presence information 34, and display the media itemannotation 40, by selecting the media item identifier. Alternatively,the user may display the presence information 34, or display the mediaitem annotation 40 by individually selecting the presence information 34or the media item annotation 40, respectively. The media item playlist26 also may be transferred to a storage medium, for example, a CD,and/or transferred to a separate portable device, for example, an MP3player and/or a cell phone. For purposes of describing the presentinvention, FIG. 6 shows three media item identifiers 38 designated as(1), (2), and (M), along with the associated media items. It should beunderstood that the present invention should not be limited to anyspecific quantity of media item identifiers 38 and, therefore, mediaitems. The designation (M) is meant to describe and convey an unlimitedquantity of media item identifiers 38 and media items.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the process for receiving a mediaitem recommendation message 36 at the user device 20 of the recipient.This allows a description of how the user device 20 processes the mediaitem recommendation message 36, including receiving, rendering, playing,and/or storing the presence information 34, the media item annotation40, and the media item. The user device 20 receives the media itemrecommendation message 36 from the user device 20 of the recommender(step 400). Upon receiving the media item recommendation message 36, theuser device 20 processes the media item recommendation message 36. Theuser device 20 processes the media item recommendation message 36 byplaying the presence information 34 (step 402). By playing the presenceinformation 34, the recipient may be made aware of the receipt of themedia item recommendation message 36 and, if desired, may contact therecommender, for example, to discuss or inquire about the media itembeing recommended.

The recipient may elect to process the media item recommendation message36 by rendering the media item that is the subject of the media itemrecommendation message 36, which may also render the media itemannotation 40 (step 404). Rendering the media item causes the media itemplayer 28 in the user device 20 of the recipient to play the media itemand may cause the user device 20 to play the media item annotation 40(step 406). Additionally, the user device 20 may render, and, therefore,play the presence information 34. To play the media item, the userdevice 20 may access the media item from the media item collection 30.If the media item is not in the media item collection 30, the userdevice 20 may access it from the central/proxy server 12, if the mediaitem is stored in the central/proxy server 12. If the media item is notstored in the media item collection 30 or in the central/proxy server12, the user device 20 may elect to acquire the media item from thesubscription service 32 or another external source.

Alternatively, instead of rendering the media item upon receipt of themedia item recommendation message 36, the recipient may elect to processthe media item recommendation message 36 by storing the media itemrecommendation message on the media item playlist 26 for renderinglater. In such a case, the media item identifier 38 is stored on themedia item playlist 26 (step 408). The user device 20 of the recipientdownloads the recommender's presence information 34 and the media itemannotation 40 to the media item playlist 26 in such a manner as therecommender's presence information 34 and the media item annotation 40may be associated with the media item identifier 38, and, thereby, themedia item (step 410).

When the recipient desires to play the media item, the recipient selectsthe media item from the media item playlist 26. The user device 20renders the media item, and the recommender's presence information 34and the media item annotation 40, that were stored on the media itemplaylist 26 (step 412). The media item player 28 in the user device 20plays the recommender's presence information 34, the media itemannotation 40 and the media item (step 414).

When the media item recommendation message 36 is received and/or whenthe media item is rendered the audio 42 (FIG. 3) of the presenceinformation 34 and the audio 48 (FIG. 3) of the media item annotation 40may be played before, during, also referred to as “on top of,” or inplace or instead of the audio of the recommended media item or the mediaitem currently being played by the user device 20 of the recipient.

As discussed above with respect to FIG. 5, the media item recommendationclient application 22 may cause the user device 20 to generate andtransmit a media item recommendation message 36 when a media item isplayed by the user device 20. As such, whether the recipient elects torender the media item upon receipt of the media item recommendationmessage 36 or to store the media item recommendation message in themedia item playlist 26 for rendering later, the media recommendationmessage 36 is generated when the media item is played. In this case, themedia item recommendation message 36 is generated by the user device 20of the recipient. The recipient may retain the recommender's presenceinformation 34 of, and the media item annotation 40 developed by, theprevious recommender. Alternatively, the recipient, who now becomes therecommender, may adapt the previous recommender's presence information34 and/or media item annotation 40. The recipient may adapt therecommender's presence information 34 by including the recommender'spresence information 34 unmodified, including the recommender's presenceinformation 34 as modified by the recipient, including the recipient'spresence information 34 with the recommender's presence information 34unmodified, replacing the recommender's presence information 34 with therecipient's presence information 34, and/or including the recommender'spresence information 34 as modified by the recipient with therecipient's presence information 34. Similarly, the recipient may adaptthe recommender's media item annotation 40 by including therecommender's media item annotation 40 unmodified, including therecommender's media item annotation 40 as modified by the recipient,including the recipient's media item annotation 40 with therecommender's media item annotation 40 unmodified, replacing therecommender's media item annotation 40 with the recipient's media itemannotation 40, and/or including the recommender's media item annotation40 as modified by the recipient with the recipient's media itemannotation 40. In such a manner, the media item recommendation message36 may be propagated to and among the users of the media itemrecommendation system 10.

Additionally, the recipient may elect to transfer the media item, thepresence information 34 and/or the media item annotation 40 to adifferent physical storage media such as, for example, a CD. Optionally,the recipient may elect to download the media item and/or the media itemplaylist 26 with the presence information 34 and/or the media itemannotation 40 to a separate portable device such as, for example, an MP3player or a cell phone.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the components of an exemplaryuser account 14 in the central/proxy server 12 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 provides an overview of thestructure of the user account 14, the information recorded therein, anda reference for describing the interaction between the central/proxyserver 12 and the user devices 20. FIG. 8 shows the user account 14A,but should be understood that the user account 14A may be typical forall users subscribed to the media item recommendation client application22. In one embodiment of the present invention, the user account 14A maybe stored on the central/proxy server 12. The user account 14A may storea record of certain information concerning the user, the user's mediaitem collection, and the user's activities involving media items.

The user account 14A may have a record as to whether that user device20A is able to communicate with the media item recommendation system 10by on-line status 54A. The central/proxy server 12 may refer to theon-line status 54A to determine if the log-in notice with the presenceinformation 34 and/or the media item recommendation message 36 may betransmitted to the user device 20A. The user account 14A may also recordthe presence information 34A and the media item annotation 40Atransmitted by the user device 20A.

The user account 14A may also contain a friends list 56A and group list58A. The friends list 56A is a list of the other users registered on themedia item recommendation system 10 from whom the user desires toreceive media item recommendation messages 36. The user may not want toreceive media item recommendation messages 36 from all of thesubscribers to the media item recommendation client application 22. Thegroup list 58A may be used by the user to group the friends recorded inthe friends list 56A into different groups to further control thetransmission and receipt of the media item recommendation message 36from another user. For example, although user ‘B’ and user ‘C’ may be onthe friends list 56A, they may be in two separate groups in the grouplist 58A. The user may desire to receive the media item recommendationmessage 36 from a friend in a certain group only if it is a certaingenre, for example.

The user account 14A also records the user's play history 60A. Theuser's play history 60A is a time-stamped record of each media itemplayed by the user. The user account 14A also may contain informationregarding the user's particular media preferences 62A. The user's mediapreferences 62A may relate to the different likes and dislikes of theuser based on certain identified media categories. The media categories,for example, may be genre, artist, date of release of the media item,and other information. Also, the user account 14A may have a record ofthe user's media item collection 30A, profile 64A information providedby the user, and any subscriptions 66A the user may have withsubscription service(s) 32. Additionally, the preferences 62A, mediaitem collection 30A, play history 60A, and other information provided bythe user at the time of registering with the media item recommendationclient application 22 may be used to further develop and update theprofile 64A of the user. Additionally, the profile 64A may include astatistical compilation of the aforementioned information.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the components of an exemplaryrecommendation database 16 in the central/proxy server 12 according toone embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 provides an overview ofthe structure of the recommendation database 16, the informationrecorded therein, and a reference for describing the interaction betweenthe central/proxy server 12 and the user devices 20. The recommendationdatabase 16 may store and keep a record of the media item recommendationmessages 36 provided on the media item recommendation system 10. In FIG.9, a record of the media item (1) recommendation message 36A is shown.The identity of the recommender may be recorded by designating the userdevice 20A from which the central/proxy server 12 received the mediaitem (1) recommendation message 36A. The media item (1) identifier 38 isrecorded. A running total 70 of the media item recommendation messages36A for the media item (1) is recorded, as is a total 72A of media item(1) recommendation messages 36A for the recommender.

Additionally, the recommender's presence information 34A and the mediaitem annotation 40A for the media item (1) recommendation message 36Amay be recorded and stored. The media item score 76 also may berecorded. The media item score 76 may be based on the number of mediaitem recommendation messages 36 for the media item (1) adjustedappropriately for multiple recommendations from the same recommender asmay be recorded by the total 72A for the recommender. The recommendationdatabase 16 may also record the total number 74 of recipients thatreceived the media item (1) recommendation message.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the process for the central/proxyserver 12 to receive the log in instructions and the media itemrecommendation message 36 from a recommender, and to transmit a log-innotice and the media item recommendation message 36 to the recipientaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. The central/proxyserver 12 receives information from the user device 20, registers theuser for the media item recommendation client application 22, andestablishes the user account 14 for the user (steps 500, 502). Theprofile 64 and other information received by the central/proxy server 12may be stored in the user account 14 (step 504). When the user logs into the media item recommendation system 10, the central/proxy server 12receives the log in instruction including the presence information 34from the user device 20 (step 506). The central/proxy server 12 storesthe presence information 34 in the user account 14 and generates thelog-in notice attaching the presence information 34 (step 508). Thecentral/proxy server 12 refers to the on-line status 54 of the useraccounts 14 to determine which of the other user devices 20 of the mediaitem recommendation client application 22 are logged in to the mediaitem recommendation system 10. The central/proxy server 12 sends thelog-in notice with the attached presence information 34 to the otheruser devices 20 that are logged in (step 510).

The central/proxy server 12 may receive the media item recommendationmessage 36 from the user device 20 of the logged in user (step 512). Thecentral/proxy server 12 may store and keep a record of the media itemrecommendation message 36 in the recommendation database 16 (step 514).Storing the media item recommendation message 36 includes storing thepresence information 34 and/or the media item annotation 40.Alternatively, the presence information 34 and/or the media itemannotation 40 may be stored separately from the media itemrecommendation message 36. The central/proxy server 12 reviews thefriends list 56 and group list 58 of the user accounts 14 to determineto which recipient user(s) to transmit the media item recommendationmessage 36 (step 516). The central/proxy server 12 transmits the mediaitem recommendation message 36 to the appropriate user devices 20 of therecipients (step 518) and records the transmission in the recommendationdatabase 16 (step 520).

FIG. 11 is the user-server media item recommendation system 10 of FIG. 1further illustrating in more detail the provisioning and propagation ofthe media item recommendation message 36 among the user devices 20 ofthe media item recommendation system 10 according to one embodiment ofthe present invention. FIG. 11 shows the user devices 20A, 20B, 20N andprovides a reference for the discussion of FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C. Thepresence information 34A, 34B, 34N and the media item (1) recommendationmessage 36A, 36B, 36N are transmitted and received according to oneembodiment of the present invention, the process of which is describedin detail with respect to FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C, below.

FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C illustrate an exemplary communication flowdiagram between the central/proxy server 12 and the user devices 20A,20B, 20N. FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C describe and discuss how the mediaitem (1) recommendation message 36 is propagated among the users of themedia item recommendation system 10. Referring to FIG. 12A, the userdevice 20A generates the media item (1) recommendation message 36A (step600) and transmits the media item (1) recommendation message 36A to thecentral/proxy server 12 (step 602). The central/proxy server 12 receivesthe media item (1) recommendation message 36A, stores the media item (1)recommendation message 36A in the recommendation database 16 (step 604)and reviews the friends list 56 and the group lists 58 in the useraccounts 14 to determine to which user devices 20 to transmit the mediaitem (1) recommendation message 36A (step 606). The central/proxy server12 determines that the user devices 20B, 20N may appropriately receivethe media item (1) recommendation message 36A and sends the media item(1) recommendation message 36A to the user device 20B (step 608) and theuser device 20N (step 610).

The user devices 20B, 20N play the presence information 34A included inthe media item (1) recommendation message 36A (steps 612 and 614). Theuser of the user device 20N elects to not play the media item but,instead to store the media item (1) recommendation on the media itemplaylist 26N for rendering at a subsequent time. The user device 20Nstores the media item (1) identifier 38 on the media item playlist 26Nand downloads the presence information 34A and the media item annotation40A, if present, to the media item playlist 26N to store the presenceinformation 34A and the media item annotation 40A on the media itemplaylist 26N (step 616). The user of the user device 20B elects to playthe media item (1) and the user device 20B renders the media item (1)and the media item annotation 40A, if present (step 618). The presenceinformation 34A may also be rendered when the user device 20B rendersthe media item (1). The media item player 28B plays the media item (1),and may play the presence information 34A and the media item annotation40A (not shown). Optionally, the user of the user device 20B may electnot to play the presence information 34A and/or the media itemannotation 40A when rendering the media item (1).

Referring to FIG. 12B, the user of the user device 20B decides to recorda media item (1) annotation 40B for the media item (1) to include with,modify or replace the media item (1) annotation 40A transmitted with themedia item (1) recommendation message 36A (step 620). Because the userdevice 20B played the media item (1), the user device 20B automaticallygenerates the media item (1) recommendation message 36B, including themedia item (1) identifier 38, the presence information 34B, and themedia item (1) annotation 40B (step 622). As such, the media item (1)recommendation message 36B may include the presence information 34and/or media item annotation 40 of one or more of a plurality ofrecommenders. The user of the user device 20B may adapt the presenceinformation 34A by replacing the presence information 34A with thepresence information 34B, or incorporating the presence information 34Bwith the presence information 34A, modified or unmodified, into themedia item (1) recommendation message 36B. Alternatively, the user ofthe user device 20B may elect to not include the presence information34B in the media item (1) recommendation message 36B. In such a case,the user of the user device 20B may elect to retain as received ormodify the presence information 34A in the media item (1) recommendationmessage 36B.

The user device 20B transmits the media item (1) recommendation message36B to the central/proxy server 12 (step 624). The central/proxy server12 receives the media item (1) recommendation message 36A, stores themedia item (1) recommendation message 36B in the recommendation database16 (step 626) and reviews the friends list 56 and the group list 58 inthe user accounts 14 to determine to which of the user devices 20 totransmit the media item (1) recommendation message 36B (step 628). Thecentral/proxy server 12 determines that the user devices 20A, 20N mayappropriately receive the media item (1) recommendation message 36B andsends the media item (1) recommendation message 36B to the user device20A (step 630) and the user device 20N (step 632).

The user devices 20A, 20N play the presence information 34B included inthe media item (1) recommendation message 36B (steps 634 and 636).Because the user of the user device 20A was the initial recommender ofthe media item (1), the user of the user device 20A elects to not playthe media item (1) but instead stores the media item (1) recommendationon the media item playlist 26A for rendering at a subsequent time. Theuser device 20A stores the media item (1) identifier 38 on the mediaitem playlist 26A and downloads the presence information 34B and themedia item annotation 40B, if present, to the media item playlist 26A(step 638).

The media item (1) recommendation message 36B is a subsequentrecommendation of the media item (1) received by the user of the userdevice 20N. As such, the media item (1) identifier 38 is already storedon the media item playlist 26N. The user device 20N updates the mediaitem playlist 26N. The update to the media item playlist 26N may includean update of the score for media item (1) based on the subsequentrecommendation. The user device 20N also downloads the presenceinformation 34B and the media item (1) annotation 40B to the media itemplaylist 26N to store the presence information 34B and the media itemannotation 40B on the media item playlist 26N (step 640). The user ofthe user device 20N may decide to play the media item (1). The userdevice 20N renders the media item (1) and the media item (1) annotation40B from the media item playlist 26N (step 642). Optionally, whenrendering the media item (1), the user of user device 20N may elect toalso render the presence information 34A, the presence information 34B,and/or the media item (1) annotation 40A, which may continue to bestored on the media item playlist 26N. In addition, the user of the userdevice 20N may render and/or play the presence information 34A, thepresence information 34B, the media item annotation 40A, and/or themedia item annotation 40B on the user device 20N without rendering themedia item (1).

Referring to FIG. 12C, the user of the user device 20N decides to recordthe media item (1) annotation 40N for the media item (1) to includewith, modify or replace one or both of the media item (1) annotations40A, 40B transmitted with the media item (1) recommendation messages36A, 36B (step 644). Because the user device 20N played the media item(1), the user device 20N automatically generates the media item (1)recommendation message 36N, includes the media item (1) identifier 38,and may include the presence information 34N and the media item (1)annotation 40N (step 646). As such, the media item (1) recommendationmessage 36B may include the presence information 34 and/or media itemannotation 40 of one or more of a plurality of recommenders.

The user of the user device 20N may adapt the presence information 34Aand/or the presence information 34B by replacing the presenceinformation 34A and/or the presence information 34B with the presenceinformation 34N, and/or incorporating the presence information 34N withpresence information 34A and/or the presence information 34 B into themedia item (1) recommendation message 36N. Alternatively, the user ofthe user device 20N may elect to not include the presence information34N in the media item (1) recommendation message 36N. In any such case,the user of the user device 20N may elect to retain as received ormodify the presence information 34A and/or presence information 34B inthe media item (1) recommendation message 36N.

The user device 20N transmits the media item (1) recommendation message36N to the central/proxy server 12 (step 648). The central/proxy server12 receives the media item (1) recommendation message 36N, stores themedia item (1) recommendation message 36N in the recommendation database16 (step 650) and reviews the friends list 56 and the group list 58 inthe user accounts 14 to determine to which of the user devices 20 totransmit the media item (1) recommendation message 36N (step 652). Thecentral/proxy server 12 determines that the user devices 20A, 20B mayappropriately receive the media item (1) recommendation message 36N andsends the media item (1) recommendation message 36N to the user device20A (step 654) and the user device 20B (step 656).

The user devices 20A, 20B play the presence information 34N included inthe media item (1) recommendation message 36N (steps 658 and 660).Because the media item (1) recommendation message 36N is a subsequentrecommendation of the media item (1) received by the users of the userdevices 20A, 20B, the media item (1) identifier 38 is already stored onthe media item playlists 26A, 26B. The user devices 20A, 20B update themedia item playlists 26A, 26B. The update to the media item playlists26A, 26B may include an update of the score for the media item (1) basedon the subsequent recommendations. The user devices 20A, 20B downloadthe presence information 34N and the media item annotation 40N, ifpresent, to the media item playlists 26A, 26B to store the presenceinformation 34N and the media item annotation 40N on the media itemplaylists 26A, 26B (steps 662 and 664).

Instead of playing the media item (1), the user of the user device 20Aelects to store the media item (1) to a storage medium, for example, byburning a CD of the media item (1) with the media item (1) annotation40N (step 666). Optionally, the user of the user device 20A may elect toburn the CD of the media item (1) and include the media item (1)annotation 40A and/or 40B, or any combination of the media item (1)annotations 40A, 40B, 40N. The presence information 34A, 34B, 34C mayalso be burned to the CD with the media item (1). As such, the user ofthe user device 20A may transfer all or a portion of the media itemplaylist 26A to a storage medium such as a CD. The user of the userdevice 20A may play the media item (1), the presence information 34, andthe media item (1) annotations 40 at any time by playing the CD.

The user of the user device 20B may elect to download the media item(1), the presence information 34N, and the media item (1) annotation 40Nto a separate portable device for playing at a subsequent time (step668). Optionally, the user of the user device 20B also may elect todownload the presence information 34A, 34B and the media item (1)annotation 40A and/or 40B, or any combination thereof. Also, the user ofthe user device 20B may download to the separate portable device all ora portion of the media item playlist 26B. The user of the user device20B may play the media item (1), any of the presence information 34, andthe media item (1) annotations 40 without having to be connected to themedia item recommendation system 10.

FIG. 13 shows the media item recommendation message 36 of FIG. 4 withadditional detail. FIG. 13 is provided to show an example of the type ofinformation which may be included in the media item recommendationmessage 36 as the media item recommendation message 36 is propagated onthe media item recommendation system 10 (FIG. 11). FIG. 13 shows themedia item (1) recommendation message 36B of the user of the user device20B (FIG. 11). The media item (1) recommendation message 36B includesthe media item identifier 38, and includes the presence information 34Bwith the audio component 42B, the image component 44B, and the textcomponent 46B. Additionally, the media item (1) recommendation message36B includes the media item annotation 40B with the audio component 48B,the image component 50B, and the text component 52B.

The media item (1) recommendation message 36B also includes presenceinformation 34A. The incorporation of presence information 34A in themedia item (1) recommendation message 36B indicates that the media item(1) recommendation message 36 was previously sent from the user device20A (FIG. 11). The user of user device 20B has decided to adapt thepresence information 34 by retaining the presence information 34A,unmodified, and incorporating the presence information 34B in the mediaitem (1) recommendation message 36B. The recipient of the media item (1)recommendation message 36B will then receive the presence information34A of the user of user device 20A and the presence information 34B ofthe user of user device 20B. In this manner, the media item (1)recommendation message 36 may be propagated.

Additionally, the presence information 34A is shown as an exemplary URLinstead of one or more of the audio component 42A, image component 44A,and text component 46A being embedded in the media item (1)recommendation message 36B. The presence information 34A in the mediaitem (1) recommendation message 36B includes a unique identifier in theform of “presinfo34A,” which is included in the URL. A user identifierin the form of “usera” is also included in the URL. The URL may be usedto access the presence information 34A in the user account for the userof the user device 20A in the central/proxy server 12. Additionally, theURL may be in the form of a hyperlink. Although not shown in FIG. 13,the media item annotation 40 may also include the media item annotation40A of the user of user device 20A. The URL and the identifiers includedin the presence information 34A are for explanatory purposes only.Accordingly, the present invention should not be understood to belimited to any particular type of form of URL and/or identifiers.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary graphical user interface (GUI) 78 onthe user device 20. The GUI 78 is a presence information preferencessetting screen allowing the user of the user device 20 to providepresence information preferences. The GUI 78 comprises an insertpresence information section 80. Using the GUI 78, the user of the userdevice 20 may provide directions as to when to insert the presenceinformation 34 in the outgoing media item recommendation messages. Theinsert preference information section 80 may include selectors in theform of radio buttons 82, 84, 86 to allow the user of the user device 20to select when to include the user's presence information 34 in a mediaitem recommendation message 36. The user of the user device 20 maydirect that the user's presence information 34 be inserted “Always” 82,“Only When Media Item Recommendation Message Does Not Already ContainPrevious Recommender's Presence Information” 84, or “Never” 86.

The GUI 78 also comprises a render presence information section 88 toallow the user of the user device 20 to provide direction as to when torender the presence information of others. Selectors in the form ofradio buttons 90, 92, 94, and 96 allow the user of the user device 20 toselect when the user device 20 may render the presence information 34.The user of the user device 20 may direct that the presence information34 of others be rendered “When Friends Log In” 90, “When Friends LogOut” 92, “When Media Item Recommendation Message Is Received FromFriend” 94, or “When Rendering Media Item From Media Item Playlist” 96.

The GUI 78 may also comprise a presence information setting section 98to allow the user to set the components of the presence information 34.The GUI 78 may include selectors which may comprise an audio componentselector 100, an image component selector 102, and a text componentselector 104. The user's presence information 34 may be set using theaudio component selector 100, the image component selector 102, and thetext component selector 104. The audio component selector 100 allows theuser of the user device 20 to provide original audio content and/orimport audio from an external source. The image component selector 102allows the user of the user device 20 to provide any still image orgraphic such as, for example, a picture of the user. The text componentselector 104 allows the user of the user device 20 to provide anytextual message such as, for example a personal greeting.

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary GUI 106 on the user device 20. The GUI106 is an annotation information setting screen allowing the user of theuser device 20 to provide direction as to when to render the media itemannotation 40 and include the media item annotation 40 in a media itemrecommendation message 36. The user of the user device 20 may elect to“Render Annotation Information” by actuating selector 108. The user ofthe user device 20, using radio buttons 112, 114 and 116, may directwhen the media item annotation 40 is rendered 110. The user of the userdevice 20 may direct that the media item annotation 40 be rendered“Prior To Playing Media Item” 112, “Over the Beginning Of Media Item”114, or “Never” 116.

The GUI 106 also allows the user of the user device 20 to direct thatthe user's presence information 34 be included in place of the mediaitem annotation 40 when no media item annotation 40 is included with themedia item recommendation message 36 by actuating selector 120.

The GUI 106 may also include an annotation setting section 120 to allowthe user of the user device 20 to set the components of the media itemannotation 40. The GUI 106 may include selectors which may comprise anaudio component selector 122, an image component selector 124, and atext component selector 126. The media item annotation 40 may be setusing the audio component selector 122, the image component selector124, and the text component selector 126. The audio component selector122 allows the user of the user device 20 to provide audio content suchas, for example, a portion of the media item. The image componentselector 124 allows the user of the user device 20 to provide any stillimage or graphic such as, for example, a picture of the artist. The textcomponent selector 126 allows the user of the user device 20 to provideany textual message such as, for example, critical reviews of the mediaitem.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating more detail of the components ofthe presence information 34 in the user device 20 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. This allows a reference fordescribing in more detail the structure and processing of the presenceinformation 34 and the interaction with the media item player 28 ofanother user device 20. While FIG. 16 shows the user device 20A and thepresence information 34A, it should be understood that FIG. 16 may applyto the other user devices 20, and, therefore, the present inventionshould not be limited to user device 20A.

The audio component 42A of the presence information 34A may contain oneor more announcement tracks 128 (1), 128 (2), and 128 (M). Although forpurposes of discussing the present invention, FIG. 16 shows threeannouncement tracks 128A, the present invention may not be limited tothree announcement tracks 128A. The announcement tracks 128A may eachhave different musical backgrounds stored and associated with theannouncement tracks 128A as metadata 130A. The announcement track 128A(1) may have the metadata 130A (1), the announcement track 128A (2) mayhave the metadata 130A (2), and the announcement track 128A (M) may havethe metadata 130A (M). When the announcement track 128A is played by theuser device 20 of the recipient, the musical background associated withthe announcement track 128A may also play.

Each announcement track 128A may have different characteristicsassociated with it. The presence information 34A, therefore, may havedifferent characteristics. These characteristics may be, for example,tempo, genre, artist, and album. The characteristics may be set by theuser of the user device 20A and/or may be programmatically determinedfrom the users profile including his or her media item collection 30 andplay history.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary mediaitem player 28 in the user device 20 according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. FIG. 17 provides a reference for describing theinteraction between a media item player 28B of the user device 20B andthe presence information 34A structure of the user device 20B. WhileFIG. 17 shows the user device 20B and the media item player 28B, itshould be understood that FIG. 17 may apply to the other user devices20, and, therefore, the present invention should not be limited to userdevice 20B. FIG. 17 shows the media item player 28B currently playingthe media item 132. The currently playing media item 132 may have audio134 which may be represented by associated metadata 136. The user device20B may also include a media item analysis system 138B, which mayanalyze and compare the metadata of different media items.

The comparison performed by the media item analysis system 138B mayinclude measuring and matching the characteristics of the media items.The media item analysis system 138B may be a program, algorithm, orcontrol mechanism that analyzes and compares the characteristics. Inaddition to analyzing and comparing the characteristics, the media itemanalysis system 138B may include the ability to adjust the tempo orbeats per minute (BPM) of the media item 132 by applying beat matchingtechniques. Beat matching techniques provide the ability to modify themedia item using certain techniques including, but not limited to,time-stretching effects and alignment so that the announcement track128A and media item play together in a more seamless fashion.

FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary communication flow diagram between thecentral/proxy server 12 and the user devices 20A, 20B according to oneembodiment of the present invention. The user device 20A generates themedia item recommendation message 36A (step 700) and transmits the mediaitem recommendation message 36A to the central/proxy server 12 (step702). The central/proxy server 12 transmits the media itemrecommendation message 36A to the user device 12B (step 704).

Using the media item analysis system 138B, the user device 20B comparesthe metadata 136 of the currently playing media item 132 on the userdevice 20B with the metadata 130A of the announcement tracks 128Aincluded in the presence information 34A (step 706). Based on thecomparison, the user device 20B selects the “best fit” announcementtrack 128A (step 708). The user device 20B plays the “best fit”announcement track 128A from the presence information 34A (step 710).

If one of the announcement tracks 128A of the presence information 34Adoes not identically match the currently playing media item 132 on theuser device 20B, the media item analysis system 138B may adjust thetempo of the announcement track 128A that is the closest match to thecurrently playing media item 132 using beat-matching techniques. In thismanner, the BPM of the announcement track 128A is adjusted to match theBPM of the currently playing media item 132.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating more detail regarding theexemplary components that may be provided by central/proxy server 12 ofFIGS. 1 and 10 to perform the present invention. In general, thecentral/proxy server 12 may be processor or microprocessor-based andalso include a control system 140 having associated memory 142. Therecommendation database 16 is at least partially implemented in softwareand stored in the memory 142. The central/proxy server 12 also includesa storage unit 144 operating to store the user accounts 14. The storageunit 144 may also store the recommendation database 16. The storage unit144 may be any number of digital storage devices such as, for example,one or more hard-disc drives, one or more memory cards, Random AccessMemory (RAM), one or more external digital storage devices, or the like.The user accounts 14 may alternately be stored in the memory 142. Acommunication interface 146 may include a network interface allowing thecentral/proxy server 12 to be communicably coupled to the network 18(FIGS. 1 and 10).

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating more detail regarding theexemplary components that may be provided within the user device 20 ofFIGS. 1 and 10 to provide the present invention. In general, the userdevice 20 may be processor or microprocessor-based and also include auser interface 148, which may include components such as a display,speakers, a user input device, and the like. The user device 20 alsoincludes a control system 150 having associated memory 152. In thisexample, the recommendation engine 24 and the media item player 28 areat least partially implemented in software and stored in the memory 152.The media item recommendation client application 22 (FIGS. 1 and 10) mayalso be stored in the memory 152. The user device 20 also includes astorage unit 154 operating to store the media item playlist 26 and themedia item collection 30 (FIGS. 1 and 10). The storage unit 154 may beany number of digital storage devices such as, for example, one or morehard-disc drives, one or more memory cards, RAM, one or more externaldigital storage devices, or the like. The media item playlist 26 and themedia item collection 30 may alternatively be stored in the memory 152.The user device 20 also includes a communication interface 156. Thecommunication interface 156 may include a network interfacecommunicatively coupling the user device 20 to the network 18 (FIGS. 1and 10).

The functionality of the present invention can be embodied in anycomputer-readable medium for use by or in connection with acomputer-related system or method. In the context of the presentinvention, a computer-readable medium is an electronic, magnetic,optical, semiconductor, or other device or means that can transmit,contain, or store a computer, instructions program or data for use by orin connection with a computer-related system or method.

Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modificationsto the preferred embodiments of the present invention. All suchimprovements and modifications are considered within the scope of theconcepts disclosed herein and the claims that follow.

1. A method of propagating a media item recommendation, comprising thesteps of: receiving from a recommender a first media item recommendationmessage, wherein the first media item recommendation message comprises amedia item identifier of a media item and presence information of therecommender; sending the first media item recommendation message to afirst recipient; receiving a second media item recommendation messagefrom the first recipient, wherein the second media item recommendationmessage comprises the media item identifier and the presence informationof the recommender adapted by the first recipient; and sending thesecond media item recommendation message to a second recipient.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the presence information of the recommenderadapted by the first recipient comprises the presence information of therecommender unmodified by the first recipient.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the presence information of the recommender adapted by the firstrecipient comprises the presence information of the recommender asmodified by the first recipient.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thepresence information of the recommender adapted by the first recipientcomprises the presence information of the first recipient.
 5. The methodof claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the first media itemrecommendation message.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising thestep of storing the presence information of the recommender.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the secondmedia item recommendation message.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of storing the presence information of therecommender adapted by the first recipient.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the first media item recommendation message further comprises amedia item annotation.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising thestep of storing the media item annotation.
 11. The method of claim 9,wherein the second media item recommendation message comprises the mediaitem annotation adapted by the first recipient.
 12. The method of claim11, further comprising the step of storing the media item annotationadapted by the first recipient.
 13. A system for propagating a mediaitem recommendation, comprising: a control system, wherein the controlsystem is adapted to: receive from a recommender a first media itemrecommendation message comprising a media item identifier of a mediaitem and presence information of the recommender; send the first mediaitem recommendation message to a first recipient; receive a second mediaitem recommendation message from the first recipient, wherein the secondmedia item recommendation message comprises the media item identifierand the presence information of the recommender adapted by the firstrecipient; and send the second media item recommendation message to asecond recipient.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the presenceinformation of the recommender adapted by the first recipient comprisesthe presence information of the recommender unmodified by the firstrecipient.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein the presence informationof the recommender adapted by the first recipient comprises the presenceinformation of the recommender as modified by the first recipient. 16.The system of claim 13, wherein the presence information of therecommender adapted by the first recipient comprises the presenceinformation of the first recipient.
 17. The system of claim 13, whereinthe control system is further adapted to store the first media itemrecommendation message.
 18. The system of claim 13, wherein the controlsystem is further adapted to store the presence information.
 19. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the control system is further adapted tostore the second media item recommendation message.
 20. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the control system is further adapted to store thepresence information adapted by the first recipient.
 21. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the first media item recommendation message comprisesa media item annotation.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein the controlsystem is further adapted to store the media item annotation.
 23. Thesystem of claim 21, wherein the second media item recommendation messagecomprises the media item annotation adapted by the first recipient. 24.The system of claim 23, wherein the control system is further adapted tostore the media item annotation adapted by the first recipient.
 25. Acomputer-readable medium, comprising instructions for instructing acomputer to: receive from a recommender a first media itemrecommendation message comprising a media item identifier of a mediaitem and presence information of the recommender; send the first mediaitem recommendation message to a first recipient; receive a second mediaitem recommendation message from the first recipient, wherein the secondmedia item recommendation message comprises the media item identifierand the presence information of the recommender adapted by the firstrecipient; and send the second media item recommendation message to asecond recipient.
 26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, whereinthe presence information of the recommender adapted by the firstrecipient comprises the presence information of the recommenderunmodified by the first recipient.
 27. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 25, wherein the presence information of the recommender adapted bythe first recipient comprises the presence information of therecommender as modified by the first recipient.
 28. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the presence informationof the recommender adapted by the first recipient comprises the presenceinformation of the first recipient.
 29. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 25, further comprising instructions for instructing a computer tostore the first media item recommendation message.
 30. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructionsfor instructing a computer to store the presence information.
 31. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructionsfor instructing a computer to store the second media item recommendationmessage.
 32. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, furthercomprising instructions for instructing a computer to store the presenceinformation adapted by the first recipient.
 33. The computer-readablemedium of claim 25, wherein the first media item recommendation messagefurther comprises a media item annotation.
 34. The computer-readablemedium of claim 33, further comprising instructions for instructing acomputer to store the media item annotation.
 35. The computer-readablemedium of claim 33, wherein the second media item recommendation messagecomprises the media item annotation adapted by the first recipient. 36.The computer-readable medium of claim 35, further comprisinginstructions for instructing a computer to store the media itemannotation adapted by the first recipient.